We are please to announce the winners of the North America vs Europe Photo Contest.Separating the entries into the categories of the contest and then adding the scores of our three judges together for each entry determined the winners. The entry with the highest total combined scores was declared to be the winner of that category.The judges original score sheets and the final score sheet which combines all the judges scores and comment together is posted to maintain transparency herePlease take a moment today and help us thank all of the people, sponsors and entrants that made this contest the success it is by dropping by our thank you thread and posting a word or two. http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1151

Best Overall Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock BonsaiThe two entries that scored the highest in their own region have the same amount of points leaving us with a tie. To resolve this we asked two of the editors here at AoB to score each tree individually. We then added the total scores per tree and divided it by 2 (the number of scores) to get an average score per tree. The results are shown below.

Tiebreaker:Candy J. Shirey Scored 9Beautiful composition with elements in harmony. I particularly appreciate how the pot size, color, shape subtly support the form of the tree. This tree communicates grace, style and beauty. (Though I realize the reason for the tie-down wire, I find it slightly distracting.)Will Heath Scored 9I like this Maple a lot, it has a good natural feel to it, the Nebari is strong and balanced and the foliage forms pads that does tribute to the species. My score on this was lowered from 10 because of the lower left branch, which has a straightness that conflicts with the zig-zagged branches on the right and looks like it was simply pulled down as the guy wire suggests instead of growing naturally. The score was also lowered because of the photo quality.Average score of tiebreaking judges 9Total Combined Score: 32 out of 40 possible points

Willow Leaf Fig (Ficus salicifolia)Artist: Jim Smith (USA)Height: 25 inches, 63.5 cmPot: ChineseJudge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8Judge Robert Steven Scored 8Tiebreaker:Candy J. Shirey Scored 7[size=9]Nice elements but not quite in harmony. I appreciate the detail ramification of the tree and the skillful placement of landscape. However, the stark leafless trees are at opposition to the lush moss. The photography falls short for a quality composition.Will Heath Scored 8
This is a remarkable Penjing, truly beautiful and natural, one can almost imagine hearing water when viewing this. The talent of the artist shines though in this and shows creativity and an almost magical insight. Unfortunately much of the artistic impact is lost due to the poor photography, the details blend together, the colors are off, and the tray itself is washed out to a untextured gray.Average score of tiebreaking judges 7.5
Total Combined Score: 30.5 out of 40 possible points [/size]

And the Best Overall Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock Bonsai is
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)Artist: John Pitt (UK)Height: 90 cm, 35.43 inchesPot: John Pitt (UK)

Dear AoB,
Congratulations!?
On one hand you provided an opportunity to view many wonderful Bonsai from North America and Europe. Some I had never seen before, some have been shown so much it makes me wonder about the "depth" of talent and the personal collection of the Artists.
On the other hand, this contest was supposed to show that Europe was "light years ahead of North America". This had been repeated as a fact continually by those that assured disbelievers we were fools if we thought other wise.
I would like to point out the inconvient truth.
First, the two regions were very CLOSE in points, not light years apart .
(I removed statement that was incorrect)
Congratulations!
Mark

Congratulations ladies and gentlemen.To say that there were some beautiful trees displayed is certainly an understatement.
Mark..I think you misunderstood how the 30th score for Europe was calculated....you might want to read the explanation again.
Will.....In reading your "tiebreaker" comments I was struck by the "colors were off" statement.While i don't disagree that the photography could have been better,especially the washed out white marble tray,I did not notice any misleading color elements.If you were speaking of the nerifolia's bark color,it should be noted that that nerifolias bark can and does turn a reddish color when scrubbed and wet.I mention this not defending this particular photograph,but as general information for those unfamiliar with this unusual,and to me,beautiful characteristic of Ficus nerifolia/salicifolia.
andy

Mark,
There was no "phantom entry " or "new math" involved. Let me explain this so you can understand and before the grassy knoll theories abound.
Each region had the top scoring 30 trees picked out in order to get an average of the same. This was done by selecting those entries that had the highest score first and then working down until the sum of 30 was reached.
With North American we reached 30 perfectly. However with Europe, we went though all the scores of 16 and had 29 entries, we needed one more entry to hit 30 but there were 6 entries that had the score of 15.
That score of 15 would have been added in as the 30th no matter how we did it. Each region needed 30 entries in order to calculate an average score per tree.
So we could have had a major 6 way tiebreaker to determine which of the 6 we would use the 15 points from.
Or we could have chosen the one that was entered first to use the 15 points from it.
We could have just picked one to use the 16 points from.
Instead we just used the 15 points without making a selection, it is not a prize position anyhow, just a score.
So we then tallied the 30 scores from North America and the now 30 scores from Europe and divided them by 30 to obtain the average score per tree per region.
Simply, honest, fair, and never altered the score at all.
Lastly, this contest was developed in order to shed light on the state of bonsai in both regions and to have some sort of a benchmark to weigh claims against. In this aspect and many others, it is a huge success.

Will.....In reading your "tiebreaker" comments I was struck by the "colors were off" statement.While i don't disagree that the photography could have been better,especially the washed out white marble tray,I did not notice any misleading color elements.If you were speaking of the nerifolia's bark color,it should be noted that that nerifolias bark can and does turn a reddish color when scrubbed and wet.I mention this not defending this particular photograph,but as general information for those unfamiliar with this unusual,and to me,beautiful characteristic of Ficus nerifolia/salicifolia.

Hi Andy,
I based my observation of the washout of the tray, the color of the moss, and the background. What a beautiful piece that was, imagine a quality photograph of the same...stunning!

Will,
I'm very glad to learn I misunderstood how that final score was determined.
I apologize for the undeserved criticism.
Thanks for the clarification.
Now that the results are in, I am sure those that have been trying to perpetuate the myth of America light years behind Europe will be scrambling to admit they were mistaken and apologize for stating as fact something that clearly is not so. We will see.
Mark

As I said when I wrote the Article that spawned this contest, I would love to be proved wrong. However there are still two points I take a bit of an exception to. First of all I never said, and I do not know of anyone who has ever said, that Europe was light years ahead, that sounds like a lot. I don't think Europe is ahead by a lot but ahead by a significant some, which the results prove, thirty some odd entries against over seventy or so. That's more than two to one. Secondly considering that all of the European artists that could have entered and those that should have entered I believe the jury to still be out taking into account the small number of European entries.
I think a lot of the American trees were far better than I expected, and for that I am grateful. I hope when this is done again we can get more of a European presence and less of an outside sour-grapes crowd trying to discredit the contest. That being said I think it is incumbent on this group to do it again next year.

Vance,
Colin Lewis for one, stated exactly that in his Profile interview right here in AoB. As a matter of fact he went futher and stated that England was "light years ahead" and they were not even the best bonsai in Europe. Others may have not have used those exact words but the implication was the same.
Mark

Here's an interesting observation - with the exception of Walter's Mugo Pine shohin, all the prize winning trees were imported into their region (or from imported stock.)
Walter's grand prize tree, the RMJ, hopefully will inspire more American's to do more with this species. I have tried two and alas they can't take the heat and lack of dormancy in Florida.

A big thanks to the staff at AofB for a unique contest. I was very happy to just have trees entered in such company. To have two trees place in the top thirty was very exciting.
Congratulations to all those that entered. You all have won by just sharing your trees with the world.
I might like to ask how long before names and scores will be added to the remaining trees? There is a bald cypress forest I am especially interested in.
Thanks, Al Keppler

I'd really like to thank everyone who organized this and contributed prizes. It was quite a pleasant surprise this morning upon opening my browser! I didn't particularly expect it.
Congratulations to all of the winners and all of the contestants. We all win by doing our very best and making our trees as beautiful as they can be.
Thanks, Janet Roth

Secondly considering that all of the European artists that could have entered and those that should have entered I believe the jury to still be out taking into account the small number of European entries..

The same could be said of North America. For whatever reason, many top North American artists did not enter. I believe the competiton showed bonsai is thriving quite well on both sides of the pond and more entries would make the results statisically more significant but would not change them much.

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